greenwood



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. M. GREENWOOD.

REGULATOR FOR. STEAM PUMPING ENGINE8.

No. 388,860. Patented Sept. 4, 1888.

Bl lu'ju" u a |H m H g L LI I III" M PEIERS. Puma-Litho ra her, Walhangon 0 0 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

M. GREENWOOD.

REGULATOR FOR STEAM PUMPING ENGINES.

No. 388,860. g Patented Sept. 4, 1888.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3'. M; GREENWOOD.

REGULATOR FOR STEAM PUMPING ENGINES.

N0. 388,860 Patented Sept. 4, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL GREENlVOOD, OF \VILMINGTON, DELAWARE, ASSIGNOR TO THE HALL STEAM. PUMP COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,860, dated September Application lilcd March 2, 1888. Serial No 265,899. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MrcHAEL GREENWOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vilmington, in the county of New Castle and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Regulators for Steam Pumping-Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Myinventiou relates to automatic regulators for steam pumping-engines, and is more particularly designed as a regulating device for pumping-engines working under very heavy pressure. It is desirable as the load on the pump varies that the admission of steam should be controlled correspondingly, so that the pump may work at a uniform speed and be automatically regulated. In the application of the regulator-for example, in regulating the steam pumping-engines of hydraulic presses-it is so arranged that as the press-ram rises and pressure accumulates more steam is admitted to keep up the speed of the pump until the required pressure has been reached, when the valve will shut off the steam en tirely and stop the pump.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved regulator for steam pumping-engines, and this end I attain by means of certain novel organizations and combinations of parts, which I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, showing therein my improvements as embodied and arranged for operation in the best way now known to me.

The improvements herein claimed by me are particularly recited at the close of this specification, and some of them may be used without the others and the details be varied.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of my improved regulator. Fig. 2 is a face view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical section therethrough on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section therethrongh on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail of the base-plate.

The regulator is or may be made up of two main parts and their appurtcnances to wit, a steam-valve chamber and a pressure-cylinder, both mounted upon a common base and supported by a steampipe above the steam chest and cylinder or cylinders of the engine.

The base-plate A has a connection, say at a, for the steam-pipe or connection which coir veys the steam from the valve-chamber of the regulator to the steam chest and cylinder or cylinders of the engine. It is not necessary to illustrate or describe the manner of admitting the stcam to the steam-chest after leaving the regulator, as it forms no part of the present invention. prefer, however, that a stout pipe be used projecting above the steamchest and screwing into the baseplate A at a to form a support for my improved regulator. Said baseplatc A of the regulator forms a rigid connection between the casing B of the valvechamber and the pressure-cylinder (J of the apparatus.

The valve-chamber formed by the casing B receives the steam from the boiler, and has a suitable connection, b, for a steam-pipe. This valve-chamber contains the steanrvalve which regulates the supply of steam to the engine; and it consists of a tubular valve, 1), fitted at its ends to work smoothly in corresponding seats or bearings in the casing at each side of the steam-chamber. It is also fitted to work through an intermediate annular valve ring or bearing, E, projecting into the valve-chamber and supported rigidly therein by connectingwcbs (or skeleton connections) 6 e e, for example. The casing and valve'ring may be cast together. An annular steam-space, Ifilfi,

is thus left at each end of the intermediate or central valve ring or bearing for the free circulation and passage of steam. As the tubular valve D extends across these steam-spaces at the ends of the intermediate or central valve ring or bearing E, and as the steam is admitted through this valve, its walls have the necessary openings. These openings are peculiarly arranged in my device, and fitted so that the area ofthe openings may be increased or diminished by the endwise movement of the valve to regulate the entrance of steam to the steamchest of the engine. I provide these openings preferably in two main series in the walls of the tubular valve, one series opposite or for coaction with each annular steamspace, b b

central bearing E, and each series is preferably made up of two sets, so to speak, one set, (I, being arranged above and in a dil'terent plane from the other set, (1'', and the latter altcrnatr ing with the former, so that may say the openings of each series are annularly and diagonally arranged. The openings or ports may also be of different size. The set (2 of each series may be, and preferably are, larger in extent, than those, 17,, of the same series.

In addition to the diagonal series of openings orports, there is or may he anothcrsteaminlet to coact one with each steanrspaee 71* If, which inlet may be in the form of the slots (1", in sets of, say, four, for example, above the sets (I d, above described, and equidistant around the valve. These ports or steaminlct openings may be, of course, differently arranged; but however arranged, and whether more or less in number, when exposed at the steamspaccs If lfi ofthe valve'ehamber, (by the endwise movement of the tubular valve D in its hearings in the valve-easing I and ring or annular bearing 1 they admit the steam to the steamchest of the engine and cylinders to do the work required, and this is regulated by the endwise movement of said valve, as I have before remarked.

The upper end of the valve II) is fitted with a valvcrod, 1), working through a suitable packing-box, B, at the upper end of and there closing the valve-casingli, and is connected bya cross arm, F, with the upper end of a plunger, G, fitted to move endwise in the pressure'cylinder 0, having a suitable packing for the plunger. The rise and fall of this plunger determines the position of the tubular valve in the valve-chamber and regulates thereby the admission of steam thcrethrongh. Said plunger (Jr carries a flange or plate, I, which is connected by stretcherrods J J with another flange or plate, I, forming a bridgepiece for the lower ends of said rods to receive the pressure of a spring, L, confined between said plate I and the bottom of the basepiece A. The function ofsaid spring is, by acting through the rods J J and connections with the plunger G, to force said plunger downward in its seat in the pressurecylinder (J.

A pipe or conduit (not necessary to be shown) leads from a suitable part of the pumping apparatus to the pipeopening c of the pressure-cylimler U and conducts a part of the water thereto, so as to exert the same press ure that is being exerted by the column of water being forced by the pump.

The operation of my improved device is as follows, with the valve 1) in the position, say, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings: Steam is being admitted through the openings (1%, and the pump is being driven to do its work, for example, in the operation of a hydraulic press. As the pressure of the fluid column increases the increased pressure is exerted upon the end of the plunger G in the pressurc cylinder. This causes said plunger to move endwise or rise, and by its connection with the valve I) move it upwardly also, and thus ad ditional ports or openings are presented in the steam-spaces of the valve chamber and an increased supply of steam is admitted to the engine as the load on the pump increases, thereby compensating the variation and cans ing the pump to work at a uniform speed. This regulation is automatic, and as thepressure continues to increase the valve 1) is more and more raised, and, finally, when the desired pressure is reached, the valve has been carried so far as to close its ports within its bearings, and shuts off the steam entirely and stops the pump. Pressure from the pump acting on plunger G holds the steam-valve shut until it is released.

The automatic regulation is much facilitated by the way I have arranged the steamports or inlet-openings in the tubular valve I), the diagonal arrangement permitting a large increase and decrease in the inlet of steam with a comparatively short stroke or movement of the valve, and I improve the general effectiveness of a regulator also by means of the central or intermediate ring-bearing for the valve and the provision of the stcamspaccs at each end or side thereof. As will be seen, this intermediate bearing serves to cut olt or close the ports, as do the end bearings of the valve. The supporting-webs c c c of said central or intermediate valve-bearing provide free space for the circulation of the steam.

In order to balance the valve D and have steam on each side of its head d, said head is perforated as at (P, for cXamplc-whereby steam is admitted into the chamber formed in the valvecasing above said head. (See Figs. 3 and 4.)

In Figs. 1 to 4 I have shown the stretcher rods JJ as passing down upon each side of the base-plate A and seated and movable in guidesockcts j j therein. (Sec Figs. 1, 2, and at.) Instead .I may provide said base with guide holes through the base. (See Fig. 5.)

I prefer that the plungerretracting r pressure spring L should also be securely guided, and to this end I fit it around a guide post or pin, L, projecting rigidly from the bottom of the plate A and movable endwise in an opening through the bridge piece or plate I.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, substantially as herein before set forth, of the "alvccasing, the end- Wise-movablc valve therein to control the passage of steam to the engine, the pressure-cyl' inder, its plunger actuated by the Iluid under pressure of the pumping apparatus, and the cross-arm connecting said valve and plunger, whereby as said plunger rises under the pressure it carries said valve with it.

2. The combination of the pressure-cylindcr, its plunger actuated by the tluid under pressure of the pumping apparatus, the stretcher-rods connected with said plunger,

the spring acting through said rods upon said plunger in opposition to the pressure of the fluid thereon, and the valve having its rod connected to and moving with said plunger, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the valve-casing,the tubular valve having end and intermediate bearings and suitable ports or openings, the rod-connection of said valve, the pressure-cylinder and its plunger, and a connection between said plunger actuated by the fluid under pressure of the pumping apparatus and said valve to cause them to move together, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the valve-casing, the pressure-cylinder mounted by the side of and parallel with the valvecasing, the valve controlling the passage of steam, the valve-rod,

and the plunger of the pressure-cylinder rigidly connected with the valve-rod, substan 2o tially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination of the bed plate, the pressure-cylinder mounted thereon,the valvecasing mounted on the bed-plate by the side of thepressure-cylinder,the plunger of the press- 25 ore-cylinder, the valve movable endwise in the valve-casing, and the valve-rod parallel with the plunger of the pressure-cylinder and rigidly connected thereto, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL GREENWOOD.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY M. TAYLOR, LEWIS T. PORTER. 

